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{
    "id": 704384,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/704384/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 282,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Obure",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 118,
        "legal_name": "Christopher Mogere Obure",
        "slug": "christopher-obure"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Madam Speaker, for giving me the opportunity. I will make very brief remarks. First and foremost, I would like to say an emphatic “no” to this Bill. I strongly believe that we, as lawmakers, must all work towards fulfilling the spirit of the Constitution at all times. We all know that the injustices of the past led to the existence or creation of marginalized areas in our country. Those injustices have caused so much pain and suffering to Kenyans living in those unfortunate areas which we now refer to as marginalized areas. In the wisdom of the drafters of our own Constitution, they proposed the establishment of an Equalisation Fund to restore equity and fairness; a fund which would be used to provide basic services; water, roads, health facilities, electricity and such other amenities at those marginalized areas in order to bring those areas to the level enjoyed by citizens in the rest of the country. Article 204 (3) is very categorical and makes a lot of sense to me. That the national Government may use the Equalisation Fund either directly or indirectly through conditional grants to counties in which marginalized communities exist. This is very sensible because it is consistent with the enhancing the objectives of devolution. You will also remember the same Constitution has told us that devolution will only exist at two levels; the national Government and county governments. There is no mention anywhere in this Constitution about constituencies because at the constituency level, there is no capacity and they cannot implement these projects. They do not have technical expertise and do not have staff dedicated for purposes of implementing projects of this kind. It can only be done at the level of the counties. That is what was envisaged in the Constitution, in the first instance, for a good reason. Therefore, I strongly oppose this Bill and advise my colleagues of this Senate to oppose it. They should oppose it completely so that it does not undermine the objectives of devolution. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate"
}